Addessing-machine.



Tdtented July 3, 1917.

a SHEETS-SHEET 1.

J. S. DUNCAN.

. ADDRESSING MACHINE. APPLICATION mean. n. 1915.

Patented July 3, 1917.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 2- aw Nw 4. S. DUNCAN ADDRESSING MACHINE. V'APPLICATIONFILED JAN. n, 2915. I H

Patented July 3, 191K" 3 SHEETSSHEET 3.

p W14 MQ WM WLZ of pressure -Be it known that I, JOSEPH the impressionsare made contiguous to JOSEPH S. DUNCAN, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, ASSIGNOBTO ADDRESSOGRAPH COMPANY,

OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, A CORPORATION OE ILLINOIS.

Application filed January 11, 1915.

T 0 all whom it may concern:

S-DUNGAN, a citizen of the United States, residing at Chicago, in thecounty of-Cook and State 'of Illinois, have invented certain new anduseful Improvements in Addressing-Machines, of which the following is aspecification.

This invention relates in general to that class of printing machines nowgenerally known as addressing machines but which are frequently used toprint a great variety of information as well as addresses. Morespecifically the invention relates to a printing machine in which theforce of the blow delivered by the platen is mechanically andautomatically controlled.

It is desirable in the use of printing machines of this general classthat the appearance of the impressions may be readily varied to suit thetaste of the operator and that impressions from a' plurality ofindividual printing devices present a uniform where matter previouslyprinted or typewritten since appearance. This is particularly trueuniformity of the added matter with that already printed materially addsto the character of the work, and, therefore, to its value. To obtainthese results it is necessary that the force of the platen blow be accurately gaged and made uniform throughout successive operations.

Printing devices bearing addresses and similar matter vary widely,however, in the amount of type surface presented, depending onthe-number of characters employed and the form of the type face. As iswell known to persons familiar to the printing art, to obtainimpressions of uniform appearance from forms carrying varying amounts oftype surface it is necessary to vary the force of the platen blow inproportion to the amount-of type surface presented by the printingdevice.

It is practically impossible to meet these ideal conditions,particularly in hand operable printing machines in which the force ofthe platen blow is controlled by the pressure applied by the operatorsince the operator can not accurately gage the degree applied.

It is an object, therefore, of my invention to provide in a printingmachine means whereby the force of the platen blow may Specification ofLetters Patent.

ADDRESSINGINIACI-IINE.

Patented July 3, 1917.

Serial No. 1,494.

to obtain uniform impressions from printing devices presenting varyingamounts of type surface.

A still further obiec't of my invention is to provide a machine toaccomplish the desired purposes consisting of a minimum number ofrelatively simple and inexpensive parts, whereby the machine may beassembled at a cost which places it within the means of persons who, byreason of the Work to be done require only a hand operable machine. 4

Other objects and advantages of my invention will be apparent as it-isbetter understood by reference to the following specification inconnection with the accompanying drawings in which- Figure 1 is a planview of the machine;

Fig. 2 is a vertical section on the line 22 of Fig. 1; v

Fig. 3 is a similar view of a portion of the machine showing the platenin printing position;

'Fig'. at is a vertical section on the line H of Fig. 3;

Fig/5 is a rear elevation of a portion of .the machine;

Fig. 6 is an enlarged detail of a portion of.

the controlling mechanism, and

Fig. 7 is a section on the line 7-7 of Fig. 6.

Referring to the drawings, 1 indicatesthe machine base which may be madein any suitable form to accommodate the mechanism and which is provided,in printing position, with an impression bed 2. Tracks 3 extend from therear of the machine forwardly to a position beneath plate 4, se-

cured to the base 1 and forming a support a for the work. The upstandingflanged plates 5 are suitably secured to the base 1 adjacent the tracks3 and form a magazine in which the printing devices are stored and fromwhich they are fed by suitable devices, which form no part of my presentinvention and are therefore notsliown, forwardly on the tracks 3 toprinting position abovethe bed 2 and thence to the magazine for usedplates at the forward end and within the base 1 of the machine, wherethey rest upon a member 6 until removed from the magazine for reuse orstorage. A ribbon 7 is disposed above the bed 2-.and sufficiently spacedtherefrom. to

allow the printing devices to pass between the ribbon and the bed. Theribbon 7 passes through openings 8 in thebase 1 and is fed by suitablemechanism within the base,

. which mechanism maybe ofany of the well- 1 known forms and is,therefore, not shown.

' Pivotally mounted on pins 9, secured in the upstanding lugs 10 of thebase 1 are-the legs 11 and 11 of the impression member,

the legs being joined at their extremitiesby a suitable'connectingmember 12 integral therewith. A platen 13 is secured to theconnecting member 12 and. is of suitable form to deliver the necessaryblow to ohtain an impressipn from the printing de-' vice. The leg 11 ofthe'impression member 'is' provided with an extension 14 below'its pivotextending into the base 1 of the machine. r 1 Mounted on the pins 9adjacent the legs 11 and-11 ofthe impression member are thelegs 15 and15 of the operating member, the legs beingjoined at their extremities bya connecting member 16 integral therewith and disposed beneath theleg-11 of'the impression member. An extension 17 of the 'leg 15 of theoperating member is provided with an operating handle 18,-

whereby the operating member may be moved about its pivot. The leg 15 ofthe operating member is provided with a rear-.

Ward extension 19. and a tension spring 20 connects the pin 21 on theextension 19 with apin 22 mounted in the base 1 of the machine andnormally holds the, operating arm inits uppermost position, as shown inFig.

2, in which position the connecting .member 16 engages the leg 11 of theimpression member to hold it in its uppermost position.

Anextension 23 of the leg 15 below its pivot is provided "with two arms23 and 24 and a tension spring 24 connects the pin 25 on the arm 24 witha pin 26 on the extension 14 .of the leg 11. Pivotally mounted at 27 inthe base 1 is a latch 28 normally held in the position shown in Fig. 2by a spring 29 mounted in a lug 30 6f the base 1 and bearing against theend 28 of the latch 28. The opposite end of the latch'28 engages anabutment 14. on

the extension 14 of the impression member lever 43.

latch 2 8 to turnthelatch about its pivot against thespring 29 andrelease the abut' ment 14 on the extension 14. therefrom,

whereby the impression member is allowed of theoperating .and impressionmembers,. respectively, W1ll be placed under tension,

the spring tending to force the impression member downwardly to printingposition, theimpreSsion member being held, however, by the latch 28.l/Vhen' the operating member reaches the position indicated in Fig. 3,

the roller 31 engages the abutment 32' on the extension 32 of the latch28 and moves the latch against the tension of its spring 29 to releasethe impression member which is then moved to printing position by thespring24. hen the handle 18 of the operating mem ber is released thespring 20 returns it to'its. normal. position and the impression memberis carried upwardly by the connecting member 16 until the latch 28 againengages the abutment 14, when the machine isready for the secondoperation. It will be obvious that the force of the blow delivered bythe platen 13 is entirely independent ofthe force applied by theoperator to the handle 18, the impression member'being actuated by thespring 24. v

To provide for regulation of the force of the blow'delivered by theplaten 13 I slid ably mount a buffer bar 33 in the lug 34 and the rearwall of the base 1 so disposed as to be in the path of the abutment 14'on the extension 14 as the impression member moves to printing position,actuated by the spring 24. .A' springis disposed about the bar 33,between the rear'wall of the base 1 and a pin 36, which passes throughthe bar 33, and normally forces the bar 33 forwardly. The rear end ofthe bar is cut away. as shown in Fig. 1. to form abut'ments 37 and 38and a screw 39 is mounted in the rear abutment 38 to form an adj nstablestop against which a. lever 40. pivotally mounted on a rod 41 secured tothe base 1, normally rests. A look nut 42 is provided to hold the screw39 in position when adjusted. A lever 43 is pivotally mounted on the rod41 adjacent tllever 40 and is joined therewith by a connecting member44. A shaft 45,

journaled to the front and rear walls of the base 1 and provided at itsforward extremnected at its rearward extremity with the- A pm 47 1ssecurelyyfasteued in the side wall of the base 1 adjacent the forwardend of the machine (Fig. 6) and a cam 48 1s secured to the shaft 45 andadapted to and the bar will be moved rearwardly against the spring Whenthe handle as of the shaft is turned in the opposite direction thespring 35 will cause the bar 1 33 to move forwardly.

' the spring 35.

As 'eviously explained the end of the buffer ar-33 is disposed in thepath of the abutment 14' on the extension i l of the impression memberand should be adjusted to be engaged by the abutment 14 before theplaten reaches printing position. part of the force of the platen blowis,

therefore, expended on the bar which is resiliently held by the spring35, the space between the abutment- 3'7 and the end of the adjustingscrew 39 being sufficient to allow the bar 33 to be moved rearwardlyagainst Since at any angular position of the shaft 45 it is rigidly heldagainst "forwardmovement by the pin 47 and consequently the levers 43and 40 are similarly held, it will be readily understood that theposition of the'butfer bar with respect to the abutment 14 may be easilyadjusted by means of the screw 39. The relative positions of the bar 33and the abutment let control the force of the blow delivered by theplaten, more or of the force of the blow being expended on the bufferspring before the impression is made. After the machine has beeninitially adjusted to give an impression suited to a printing devicerepresenting a class presenting an average amount of type surface theforce of the blow delivered by the platen will remain the same at eachsuccessive actuation of the operating member regardless of the forceapplied bythe operator and the appearance of the impression will beuniform so long as printing devices of this particular class are fed tothe machine. A secondary adjustment may be rapidly made by the operatorto modify the force of the platen'blow-to suit printing devicespresenting more or less type surface, depending on the class for whichthe initial adjustment was made, by angularly adjusting the shaft 4.5,whereby the bu tier bar 33 is moved toward or from the abutment 14. Inother words. if, with the shaft 45 in its foremost position with the pin47 at the lowest part of the cam 48, the buffer bar 334s adjusted bymeans of the screw 39 to provide a platen blow sufiicient to obtain adesirable impression from printing devices averaging a relatively smallamount of type surface, by angular-1y m min turning the shaft 4.5. theshaft 45 will be moved rearwardly by the cam s8 and the correspondingrearward movement of the buffer bar 33 will result in lessening theretarding efiect of the buffer bar on the platen blow. A proper degreeof force is thus pro vided for a class of printing devices presenting arelatively greateramount of type surface than those for which theinitial adj ustment was made. Further angular movement of the shaft 45will result in a further adjustment of the buffer bar to provide for aclass of printing devices presenting a still greater amount of typesurface. l/Vhile I have provided in the present machine for threesecondary adjustments for the reason that l have found this number to besuflicient in the practical operation of the machine it is obvious thata greater number of secondary adjustments may be provided.

It is believed that my invention will be readily understood from theforegoing without further description, and while I have shown anddescribed as the preferred embodiment the application of my invention toa hand operable printing machine it is obvious that it may be appliedwith equally advantageous results to power-operated machines and theappended claims are expressly drawn with a view to protecting myinvention in its application not only to hand operable machines of thetype disclosed in the accompanying drawings but to all other mined forceto said impression member,

whereby said platen is caused to deliver an impression blow, means forautomatically controlling the force of the blow and means for returningsaid impression member to normal position after each actuation thereof.2. In a printing machine, the combination of an impression member, aplaten carried thereby, means for applying a predetermined force to saidimpression member, whereby said platen is caused to deliver animpressionblow, resilient means for automatically controlling the forceof the blow and means for returning said impression member to normalposition after each actuation thereof.

3. In a printingmachine the combination of an impression member, aplaten carried thereby, means for applying a predetermined force to saidimpression member, whereby said platen is caused to deliver animpression blow, adjustable means for au- 'tomatically controlling theforce of .the blow and means for returning said impression -member tonormal position after each actuation thereof.

4. In a printing machine, the combination of an impression member, aplaten carried thereby, means forapplying a predetermined force to saidimpression member, whereby said platen is caused .to deliver animpression blow, means for automatically controlling the force of theblow, means for adjusting said controlling means and means for returningsaid impression member to normal position after'each actuation thereof.

5. In a printing machine, the combination "of an impression member, aplaten carried thereby, means for applying a predetermined force to saidimpression member, whereby said platen is caused to deliver animpression blow, means for autocally controlling the force of the blow,-

means for adjusting said controlling means,

and means for rapidly varying the effect,

of said controlling means. v

7. In a prlnting machine, the combination of an impression member, aplaten carried thereby, manually operable means for applying apredetermined force to said impression member, whereby said platen iscaused to deliver an impression blow, means for automaticallycontrolling the force of the blow-primary means for ads justing saidcontrolling means, and secondary means for rapidly varying the effect ofsaid controlling means.

8. In a printing machine, the combina- .tion of an impression memberhaving an extensionbeyond its pivot forming an abutment, means forapplying a predetermined force to said impression member, whereby itismoved to printing position, resilient .bufiing means disposed in thepath of travel of said abutment and adapted to be engaged thereby tocontrol the force of the impression blow and resilient means to returnsaid impression member to normal posltion after each actuation thereof.

'9. In a printing machine, the combination of an impression memberhaving an abutment thereon, means for applying a predetermined force tosaid impression member, whereby it is moved to printing position, andresilient bufiing means disposed in the path of travel of said abutmentand adapted to be engaged thereby ing an extension beyond its pivotforming an abutment, means for applying a predetermined force to saidimpression member, whereby it is moved to printing position, andadjustable bufiin'g means disposed in the path of travel of saidabutment and adapted to be engaged thereby-to control the force of theimpression blow.

I 11.' In a printing machine, the combination of an impression memberhaving an abutment thereon, means for applying a predetermined force tosaid impression member, whereby it is moved to printing position,resilient bufiing means disposed in the path of travel of said abutmentand adapted to be engaged thereby to control the force of the impressionblow, and means for adjusting said butting means.

12. In a printing machine, the combination of a pivoted impressionmember provided'with an extension below its pivot carrying an abutment,means for applying av predetermined force to said impression member,whereby it is moved to printing.

posed in-the path of travel of said abut,

ment and adapted to be engaged thereby to control the force'of theimpression blow.

14. In a printing machine, the combination of a pivoted impressionmember proided with an extension below its pivot earrying an abutment.means for applying a predetermined force to said impression member,whereby it is moved to printing position, and adjustable butting meansdisposed in the path of travel of said abutment and adapted to beengaged thereby to control the force of the impression blow.

15. In a printing machine, the combination of a pivoted impressionmember providedwith an extension below its pivot carrying an abutment,means for applying a predetermined force 'to said impression member,whereby itis'moved to printing position, buffing means disposed in thepath of travel of said abutment and adapted to be engaged thereby tocontrol the force of the impression blow, and means for carried thereby,means for applying a. predetermined force to said impression mem bercomprising an operating member and connecting means between saidimpression and operating members. whereby the force of the blowdelivered by said platen in dependent of the force applied to saidoperating member, and means for automatically controlling the force ofthe-blow.

17 In a printing machine, the combination of an impression member, 'aplaten carried thereby, means for applying a predetermined force to saidimpression member comprising an.operating member and connecting meansbetween said impression and operating members, whereby the force of theblow delivered by said platen is inde pendent of the force applied tosaid opcrating member, and resilient means for automatically controllingthe force of the blow.

18. In a printing machine, the combination of an impression member, aplaten car ried thereby, means for applying a predeter' mined force tosaid impression member com prising an operating member and connectingmeans between said impression and operat ing members, whereby the forceof the blow delivered by said platen is independent of the force appliedto said operating member, and adjustable means for automaticallycontrolling the force of the blow.

19.- In a printing machine, the combination of an impression member, aplaten carried thereby, means for actuating said impression membercomprising an operating member and connecting means between saidimpression and operating members, whereby the force of the blowdelivered by said platen is independent of the force applied to saidoperating member, means for automatically controlling the force of theblow,

' and means for adjusting said controlling means.

20. In a printing machine, the combination of an impression member, aplaten carried thereby, means for actuating said impression membercomprising an operating member andconnecting means between saidimpression and operating members, whereby the force of the blowdelivered by said platen is independent of the force applied to saidoperating member, means for automatically controlling the force of theblow,

and means for rapidly varying the efiect or said controlling means.

21. In a printing machine, the combination of an impression member, aplaten carried thereby, means for actuating said impression membercomprising an operating member and 'connecting'means between saidimpression and operating members, whereby the force of the blowdelivered by the platen is independent of the force applied to saidoperating member, means for automatically controlling the force of theblow, means for adjusting said controllingmeans, and

termined force to said impression member,

a resilient buffer adjustably mounted and adapted to be engaged by saidimpress on member before said platen reaches printing position to absorband thereby control the force of the blow delivered by said platen.

2.3. In a printing machine, the combination of an impression member, aplaten carried thereby, means for applying a predetermined force to saidimpression member, a buffer bar resiliently mounted and adapted to beengaged by said impression member before said platen reaches printingposition to absorb and thereby control the force of the blow .deliveredby said platen.

24. In a printing machine the combination of an impression member, aplaten carried thereby, means for applying a predetermined force to saidimpression member, a buffer bar resiliently mounted and adapted to beengaged by said impression member before said platen reaches printingposition to absorb and thereby control the force of the blow deliveredby said platen,

and means for adjusting said butler with respect to said impressionmember.

In a printing machine, the combination of an impression, member, .aplaten car ried thereby, means for applying a predetermined force tosaid impression member, a butler bar slidably mounted and adapted to beengaged by said impression member before the platen reaches printingposition, a spring operatively connected to said buffer bar and adaptedto absorb and thereby con trolthe force of the blow delivered by saidplaten, and means for adjusting said butter with respect to saidimpression member.

96. In a printing machine, the combination of an impression member, aplaten carried thereby, means for actuating said impression member, abuiier bar slidably mounted and adapted to be engaged by said impressionmember before the platen reaches printing position, a spring operativelyconnected to said buffer bar and adapted to absorb and thereby controlthe force of the blow delivered by said platen, a pivoted leveroperatively connected to said buffer bar,

and means connected to said lever for ad-' reaches printing position, aspring operati'vely connected to said bufier bar and.

" of said buffer bar with reference to said impression member.

28. Ina printing machine, the combination of aframe,- an impressionmember mounted thereon, a platen carried by said wimpression member,means for actuating said impression member, a buffer bar slidablymounted and adapted to beengaged by said in'ipressionmember before theplaten reaches printing position, a spring operatively connected to saidbutter bar and adapted to absorb and thereby control the force of theblow delivered by said platen, a-pivoted lever operatively connected tosaid bufi'er bar, a shaft connected to said lever,

a cam on said shaft, and a pin secured to said frame and engaging saidcam, whereby said shaft is moved longitudinally upon angular movementthereof to move said lever about its pivot and thereby adjust saidbufier bar with respect to said impression member.

v 29. In a printing machine, the eombina tion of a pivoted impressionmember, a pivoted operating member, each of said members being providedwith extensions below their pivots, a spring connecting said extensions, whereby said members are independently movable with respect toeach other, a latch engaging with and normally restrainingsaid'impression member during a porcopies of this patent may be obtainedfor five cents each, byaddressing the Gomniissioner ot Pat ents,

bers are independently movable relatively to each other, means forrestraining said im-v pression member during a part of the movement ofsaid operating member, means for releasing said restraining means uponthe further movement of said operating memher, and means for returningsaid operating and impression members eonjointly'to normal position. v

31. In a'printing machine, the combina; tion of a pivoted impressionmember, a pivoted hand operable operating member, each of said membersbeing provided with ex tensions beyond their pivots, a spring connectingsaid extensions and adapted to actuate said impression member, a latchadapted to prevent actuation ofv said impression member during a portionof themovementfof said operating membe'r, means for releasing said latchupon the further movement of operating member, and means for return ngsald operating and impression members conjointly to normal' position.

JOSEPH s. DUNCAN.

VVitnesses:

lVM. O. BELT, M. A. KIDDIE.

Washington, D. 0.

